Shake!: The Best F*ckin’ Sound Around

For the last year, we have been doing a monthly party with DJ Monk One in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in NYC. The concept at first was simple: do an all vinyl, all 45 funk night. What started out as a deep funk excursion has transformed into a night that celebrates not just deep funk, but proto-disco, disco, early rap, and classic dance records of NYC of the mid to late ’70’s, as well as the early ’80’s.

We are taking records that Mancuso, Siano, Krivet, and Levan played at their respective residencies, and mixing in other known and not so well known sides to keep people moving from start to finish. From our very first night, it’s been packed when the door opens until last call. Throngs of diverse dancers, B Boys, music heads, people who like to be seen, and more squeeze into the back room at Friends and Lovers to dance under the dimly lit chandelier and disco ball while we sling seven inch goodness for the masses. It has been Monk and I in residency for the entire year, and if you are not familiar with 45s, they are short, so the rotation of three records each all night keeps us and the dance floor on its toes. For our year anniversary, we invited hip hop pioneer Grand Wizzard Theodore to join us, and he put on a spectacular set that you would have heard in the Park or block back in the day. The night was captured by photographer Neha Gautam, who also put together this video of what we do.

Along with the music of the night, I have tried to keep our promotional materials time period correct. From the images to the typography, we want to take people back to a place where all that mattered was the music, the dancing, and having a good time. Our image that has been with us from early on is a NYC night life photo of a guy and two ladies. His shirt says “The Best Fuckin’ Sound Around” on it. We have adopted that slogan not because we are braggadocios, but that we believe the music is. It’s a unique night in NYC at a unique venue. We had some tees made, so if you are so inclined to be part of the Shake! family, and even aren’t in NYC, get in touch. The tees are $20. We ended the night on a high note, with the entire staff rocking it. We couldn’t be more pleased.

So if you are into good music to make you move, come check us out every third Saturday in Brooklyn.